Tag Archives: paranormal romance

As usual, I try to do some spring cleaning on my website, delete inactive or spammy-looking accounts and other such tedious and boring webmistress maintenance on the technical side of the site.

New Mailing List Features!

This year, I'm updating my site to handle mailing list directly through my site instead of through MailChimp. MailChimp has been good to me, but as I near the 2000 member mark on my list, the monthly costs are a bit out of my budget right now. I will, instead, be using a fabulous plugin called “Newsletters” by Tribulant Software. These guys are great and their product is much more affordable. Continue reading →

Audiobook Production Almost Done!

SQUEEE!!!! The audiobook for Midnight Conquest is almost done. We had some delays over the holidays and since I'm producing it myself (with the assistance of my fabulous narrator, David Monteath), the delays were due to me and holiday schedules. As some of you may have heard, Sony Pictures Entertainment was hacked just before Thanksgiving and my husband is in one of the key departments responsible for getting the company's computers back up and running again. Holy bananas, what a freakin' nightmare! He's been working 12 hours a day, six days a week since the hack and only had Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's days off, with an isolated day or two here and there either working from home or off of work. Well, unfortunately, it took it's toll on him and he's been home sick for the last two and a half weeks. Our household was pretty much turned upside down because of this cyberattack. Fuckers. Pardon the language, but geez.

Anyway, we're back on track again and almost done with the final edits of the audiobook. My apologies to those who have been waiting for their prizes, where I've awarded this audiobook in some recent promotions and events. It's coming! I promise!!

To give you a taste of the audiobook, I'm now releasing (below) the 5-minute sample that will be on Audible once the audiobook is live. You'll get to hear David's AWESOME Scottish accent and Broderick MacDougal will finally have a voice!!!!! Cross your legs, ladies, so you can bear the heat!! I've been swooning over here listening to the hunky Scottish Vampire I've been writing about for so many years. Just so you know, the quality you'll get when you get the actual audiobook will be better. I had to take the quality down just to get it to upload and play on my site. Enjoy!!! Drum roll…..

The music, titled “Celtic Flame” by Stathum Summers at AudioJungle, is what you'll hear at the beginning of each chapter. I hope it lends some Scottish atmosphere to the novels. Click on the title of the song to hear the whole version. I hope to be posting some other music on my site for a soundtrack to my books.

You may notice the cover above says, “New Adult Version.” As a reminder, I've edited the text of the book for a “softer” version of the sexual encounters, so…unfortunately…you won't be getting all the glistening-folds details you'd get in the full eBook/printed novel. I did this to not only save my poor narrator from having to read the erotic scenes (LOL), but also to open my books to a younger audience. Instead of this being the X-rated version of my novels, the audiobook will be the NC-17 version, so parental discretion is still advised.

I hope you enjoy this sample of the upcoming audiobook. Again, thank you all for your patience!! I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Midnight Eclipse Book Tour

The Bonded By Blood Vampire Chroniclesby Arial Burnz is the saga of Broderick MacDougal following the soul of his true love through the centuries. There are six books planned for the series and this introduces the new release Midnight Eclipse – Book 4 – which features Norse shapeshifting pirates. AVAILABLE FOR NOW FOR 99 CENTS ONLY THROUGH NOVEMBER 12TH. Full schedule of all the Tour Stops at Literati Author Services IS HERE!

Midnight Eclipse Character Reveal Tour

The Bonded By Blood Vampire Chronicles by Arial Burnz is the saga of Broderick MacDougal following the soul of his true love through the centuries. There are six books planned for the series and this tour highlights the characters featured in the first three books and in the upcoming release Midnight Eclipse – Book 4 – which features Norse shapeshifting pirates. AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER OCTOBER 8TH for VIP Club members, October 15th worldwide.

Bio: Davina Stewart-Russell

Not a lady born, but a lady raised…

…Davina Stewart was born to Parlan and Lilias at Stewart Glen in the Lowlands of Scotland, just northeast of Aberdeen. Davina is the youngest of her and her brother, Kehr.

Due to her loose connections to the crown through her father, she was betrothed to Ian Russell – a marriage that benefited her brother and father with wealth, while Parlan promised coveted contacts for Ian and his father, Munro. However, Ian has proven to use a heavy hand to rule over Davina. In spite of pleas toward her father to dissolve the marriage, she is forced to endure her union for the sake of their financial wellbeing. In a time where a woman is property to her family and spouse, Davina endures with a silent strength when she has exhausted all other avenues, and maintains her dignity in the face of oppression.

But there is one image in her mind that has been her anchor through the years. The handsome Gypsy she met as a young girl – Broderick. He had warned her of the dark times to come when he read her palm, and said she would endure if she held to an image of strength. Little did he or Davina know Broderick would be that rock she would cling to, the light that would give her hope through those dark times.

Fact About Davina Stewart-Russell NOT in the Books

In Midnight Conquest, there is a scene where Broderick is being a bit of a peeping Tom and is mesmerized by Davina standing in a tub of shallow water, cleansing herself from the day. However, the scars on her body and the odd angle of her left arm take Broderick out of this sensual moment and ignite a protective anger in him over the obvious signs of abuse. Davina’s left arm was indeed broken, as Broderick had observed. She had gone to her father-in-law to inform him of Ian’s abusive behavior. Munro said he would speak with Ian on her behalf. Later that evening, Ian had a fight with his father Munro and, as punishment, Munro denied him funds. Ian became very drunk and took his anger out on Davina with his fists, then shoved her down a short accutane online safe flight of stairs where she broke her arm on the fall. This was the night of her first miscarriage.

Book Blurb

Broderick MacDougal follows the familiar yearning of his soul to a fierce warrior who is as seductive as a siren at sea – and she is just as deadly. The world of the supernatural opens to Broderick as he not only finds himself in the midst of an ancient war of shapeshifters, but the devious Cordelia Lynn Harley has re-entered his life and has a few of her own surprises.

Born into a hated race of Norse wolf shifters, Celina Hunter knows all too well the dangers of trusting anyone other than her two brothers. And yet the survival of her family hinges on trusting the strangely familiar vampire, a natural enemy of her kind…yet her tribe’s Shaman advisers confirm he is her soul mate. Enemy or not, Celina slips into the spell of Broderick's promises of eternal love, gambling with all she holds dear.

Broderick and Celina are bound by a curse, but having come this far through the centuries, Broderick is not about to risk his chance at having his soul mate for eternity. The price, however, may be more than Celina is willing to pay as there is more at stake than just her immortal soul. Click to Tweet

Giveaways!

Arial Burnz is giving away a TON of stuff during this tour! Please use the Giveaway Tools entry widget to be entered into the drawing. Each button will earn you more chances to win and you can keep coming back to earn more entries! All entrants will automatically become members of Arial's VIP Club, which is free to join and has many more benefits, such as exclusive contests like this one. These are the prizes for the Character Reveal Tour featuring the characters in Midnight Conquest (Book 1) – winners will be chosen on Sep 27, 2014:

Tour Grand Prize

Arial is also giving away a single Grand Prize of…

A $100 Amazon, B&N or iTunes gift card – winner's choice

A signed set of Books 1-4 of the Bonded By Blood Vampire Chronicles

Winner will be chosen on 11/21/2014. Everyone who participated in any stops on the Midnight Eclipse tours (VIP Club members or not) will be entered for the grand prize drawing. The more you participate, the more chances you have to win. Use the Giveaway Tools buttons below to earn extra chances to win by tweeting, following and liking. For Official Contest Rules, click here.

Arial Burnz – Author Bio

Arial Burnz has been an avid reader of paranormal and fantasy for over thirty years. With bedtime stories filled with unicorns, hobbits, dragons and elves, she succumbed to crafting her own tales, penning to life the magical creatures roaming her dreams. Having a romantic husband who's taught her the meaning of true love, she's helpless to weave romance into her tales. Now she shares them with the world. Arial Burnz lives in Southern California, with her husband (a.k.a. her romance novel hero)—who is also, quite coincidentally, a descendant of Clan MacDougal.

Woo hoo! The day is finally here! I am doing the public cover reveal for Midnight Eclipse – Book 4 in my Bonded By Blood Vampire Chronicles. Incidentally, the cover was revealed to all my VIP Club members last week on September 1st, so if you missed out on the early reveal, you might want to check your spam folder OR be sure to sign up for my VIP Club if you aren't already a member. It's FREE! Also, VIP Club members will not only get to pre-order Midnight Eclipseone week before everyone else at the LOW price of 50¢ (Yep! You read that right! Fifty pennies!), they will also get the book in their hot little hands ONE WEEK before everyone else does. So JOIN TODAY!

What's in this Book? Wolf Shapeshifters!!

As usual, HOT Scottish Vampires will be in this book! BUT I've now added another set of shapeshifters to my lore. The werewolves I introduced in Midnight Hunt (Book 3) were the traditional man-wolf creatures that were pretty bad news. Though Thomas was sexy, he was definitely the villain and a very bad guy. This time I'm pulling from Norse mythology, creating my own wolf-shifting people that are born with this magical ability to transform into the beautiful, sleek but large forms of wolves you might see in the wild. No grotesque transmogrification (GAWD I love that word!), but the graceful transition from one form to the other.

They are not only descendants of the god wolves Manegarm (aka Hati) and Sköll, but they are the offspring of the giantesses of the Ironwood forest (in the Norse realm and not from Earth). And that makes them very tall, so Celina (the heroine/Davina in Book 4), her brothers and their clan are all at least six feet in height! You'll get to hear the story of how they came to earth very briefly in Midnight Eclipse, but I'll be providing the lore in a free publication later – for VIP Club members ONLY, so be sure to sign up so you don't miss it. I also have a twists, turns and quite a few surprises in this installment of the Bonded By Blood Vampire Chronicles. More secrets about the prophecy are revealed and I'm introducing a few new characters into the mix while I'm also bringing some old characters up to center stage. AND there will be two HEAs in this book! Lots of fun in store for this novel! I can't wait for you all to read it!

What's NOT in this Book? Sex!

My primary concern is to write a great story with lots of layers and plot twists and page-turning events. Although I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed writing the erotic love scenes between Broderick and Davina, the storyline for this novel did not really allow for me to include such detailed sex scenes. In fact, there isn't much sex in this book at all!

[expand title=”SPOILER ALERT (which explains why there's no sex)”]Broderick and Celina/Davina hit the ground running almost as soon as they meet each other and Broderick's race is not very accepted by Celina's clan. In fact, they HATE Vamsyrians and this was necessary to have buy xanax bars 2mg online Broderick fight for the woman he loves. However, it doesn't make for very romantic encounters or private time. Celina's father doesn't want his daughter with a man he considers a monster, so you can bet your tushi he's not going to give Broderick a single moment alone with his daughter if he can help it. As such…no nookie for Broderick![/expand]

Now, I could put the sex scenes in their dreams and leave it at that, but many readers have expressed in the past that this was a real tease (referring to Book 1), so I avoided taking this route. And I didn't want to sacrifice the story just to get these two into bed together. Not only would the story fall short, but many of their opportunities to have sex would just seem forced and contrived, again sacrificing story. Will Broderick still be sex-on-a-stick? OH YEAH! He'll still be rogue and push the boundaries of those sexual restrictions and there will still be sensuality in the story. But I'm taming things down in the sexual department so I can give you a good story. So rated R instead of XXX.

Moving Forward – New Books Launching in December!!

Midnight Savior (Book 5) so far is also proving to be the same situation – no sex due to the storyline. So with two books coming out that will have little-to-no sex, it's opening up the opportunity for me to expand my audience. I've had several readers tell me they adore the stories, but the sex has been a little too much for them, so they skip over the love scenes. I've also had several young people interested in reading my books, but I strongly caution anyone under the age of eighteen to pick up my novels due to the graphic sexual content. As such, these are readers who are missing out on my Broderick and Davina's tales.

So, starting in December, I'll be releasing the New Adult versions of my Bonded By Blood series. Same stories, just minus the detailed sexual encounters. The sex won't be gone completely. I'll just be taking out all the “glistening folds” details. Instead of writing, “Davina reached between them and grabbed Broderick's shaft.” I'll have, “Davina reached between them to fondle Broderick.” Or the like. Again, still sex-on-a-stick Broderick, the rogue and scoundrel, but focusing more on the sensuality. I know I might lose a few readers during this transition, but give the books a whirl before you bow out. AND if you're a VIP Club member, you'll get the new releases for FREE, so you have nothing to lose. Well, except the details in the sex. LOL The books will get new covers to fit the content, so this is why Book 4 has a close-up of Celina's face, versus seeing lots of skin on the cover. And I'll have a launch event during December. (I'm crossing my fingers the audiobooks of the new adult versions will be ready by then, too!!!)

VIP Club Giveaway

Please Note: Most of the giveaways on my site and some of the upcoming events related to my next release will be exclusive for for my VIP Club members. This is my way of showing my appreciation for those devoted readers who go that extra mile to be a fan. Joining is FREE and there is no obligation to buy my books. With that being said…we can't have a cover reveal without a giveaway!!!!

I need your input and opinion so tell me what you think and you could win a prize! The opinions of my readers matter to me, so don't be afraid to tell me what you think about the above information. How do you like the idea of the Norse shapeshifters? Or the lack of sex in the books? What about the new adult versions? Is this something that appeals to you or are you in the “Don't F**K with my books!” camp?

TO ENTER THE DRAWING: Share your thoughts and opinions below in the comments. I'll pick two winners for these prizes: a $15 and a $10 Amazon, B&N or iTunes gift card (winner's choice).

SQUEEEEE! I just sent out my quarterly newsletter on Monday and not only announced WHEN Midnight Eclipse was going to be released, but I also had a cover reveal! Did you NOT get the e-mail? Then you must not be a member of my VIP Club OR you need to check your spam/junk folder to fish it out. If you're not a VIP Club member and would like all the juicy details, CLICK HERE to sign up today! It's free and you get freebies! And if you'd like to participate in the upcoming book tours, see below to sign up!!

I will create another post on Monday, September 8th with all the information I put into that newsletter item, including the public cover reveal – but for now, LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!!

To party-cipate in the upcoming events, visit our Facebook Event page, where all the stuff is goin' down! I'll be announcing the prizes and things you can do to join in on all the fun. We'll be posting HOT guys in kilts, HOT shifters, and anything else crazy we want to do! It will be for the full month of September and if we're still having fun, it will go on through to Halloween!!! WOO HOOOO!!!!

September 15th is the BIG Day!

Though we'll be posting all month long, the BIG day of partying will be September 15th – that is the first day of the Character Reveal Tour. That will be the kick off for the HUGE book tour I'm doing. I'm having a CHARACTER REVEAL TOUR!! On the FB event page, we'll be posting giveaways and pictures of hot guys and gals, but we'll also be posting links to the participating blogs where MORE giveaways are happening. (Incidentally, on September 19th, which is Talk Like a Pirate Day) we'll be posting pictures of HOT pirates!!) You don't want to miss out on this tour. My characters are all making appearances!!

Wanna flirt with Broderick MacDougal?

Perhaps ask Davina some questions? If you're a guy, you're welcome to flirt with her, but you might have a pretty angry vampire on your ass if you do!

Why not ask Amice or Veronique about what happened to Monique?

Cailin, James, Cordelia, Malloren, Amice, Veronique, Rosselyn and Nicabar will all be chatting with readers on the days they're featured.

And I'm introducing new characters from Midnight Eclipse – Celina Hunter (Davina in 1734), her sexy brothers Jericho & Chandler – all three of which are shifters! Jerry is heterosexual, but Chandler is gay…so there fun to be had for EVERYONE!

AND we have Jericho's hot best friend, Peter Lund…6'8′ tall, about 3′ wide of solid muscle and hair like spun gold! GAWD I have a weak spot for blonds (hint: my husband is blond). He's a feisty shifter I think you'll all LOVE and he saves the day in Book 4!! (Oops…spoiler!) Here's a sneak peek of him and his wolf form.

Anyway, if you'd like to participate in the blog tours and host some of my characters – heck you can host them ALL if you'd like…the more the merrier! – then click on the links below to sign up! Tours are courtesy of the FABULOUS Literati Author Services. LOVE these guys!!!!

Exciting Outlander News!

I'm REALLY excited to announce that Diana Gabaldon's assistant has contacted me to set up an interview for PNR Radio! SQUEEEEEEE!!!! With that being said, in my previous post I said I was going to giveaway the Outlander poster my husband and I were able to secure. HOWEVER, I've put in a request to see if I can send it to Ms. Gabaldon in hopes that she'll sign the poster and then forward it on to the winner!!! As busy as she and her assistant are, I'm sure it will take a little bit for them to get back to me, so I can't promise the poster giveaway for the weekend until I hear back from her. Cross your fingers we have a thumbs-up for this request. I'm sure you'd all rather have HER sign the poster instead of me! LOL And I don't blame you! ONE DAY my novels will be made into a TV show or movies and THEN I can sign movie posters! Mwahahaha! My ultimate plan for conquering the world!!! I don't know about you, but I'm all for HOT SCOTS dominating the world. *Arial swoons* What I hope to do is AS SOON AS I learn whether or not Ms. Gabaldon will be able to sign the poster is create a contest entry on the PNR Radio website, where we usually have all our other giveaways, which is at http://pnrradio.com/contest. The duration of the contest will be from the moment I know, through the week when we air her interview (TBD). I won't know what other giveaways Ms. Gabaldon will have during her interview, if any, so that contest entry point will be updated as I learn more. (And for those of you who might now know, I'm the host of PNR Radio, so be sure to subscribe for free for our weekly giveaways and interviews with your favorite authors and celebrities of Entertainment that Goes Bump in the Night! Listen now on iTunes or Stitcher!)

Event Time Update – 6pm PT/8pm CT/9pm ET

To make things a little more consistent across the board for the whole US, we'll be doing our Twitter party starting at 9pm ET. Since the show doesn't air on the West Coast until 9pm PT, I'm going to be watching it ON DEMAND right from the Starz Outlander official website. Didn't know you could do that?? YEP! You could even watch it TODAY, RIGHT NOW! Just go to http://www.starz.com/originals/outlander and click on the button that says, “Watch Episode”. So no matter where you are in the world, you can watch it at the same time we are and participate in the twitter about HOT SCOTS! Jamie…YUMMMM! We will still be having giveaways during the show this Saturday and will be taking entries until Sunday 5pm PT, so keep using #ScottishShifters to be included in the drawings. The more you use that hashtag in relations to our conversations and the event, the more chances you'll have to win! Bestselling authors will be giving away books, gift cards and merchandise related to our books, so you definitely want to BE ONLINE DURING OUR PARTY! Just login to Twitter during the show (times above) and watch for the hashtag. You can use TweetDeck or Hootsuite to set up a column for #ScottishShifters and see a live feed of the comments using that hashtag.

Why Are We Doing This Party?

Earlier this year, a group of us authors decided to team up to share our love of Scottish Shifters by coordinating a boxed set. Then we heard about Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series being made into a television show AND airing this year around the same time we were launching our boxed set. We thought, “What a great way to celebrate our love of HOT SCOTS and magical stories than during the premier of the one book that started it all?” So during the show, ye'll get to learn about our new boxed set and chat wit' the bestselling authors that be participatin'. Ye dinna wanna miss this spectacular event, lads and lasses! (Okay…I'll stop.) My novel Midnight Hunt will be included in the set, so for those of you who haven't had the chance to pick up your copy, this is a GREAT opportunity as you'll also be getting over a dozen stories for 99 cents! If you have any questions about what's happening, just leave me a comment below. Happy Tweeting and good luck on the drawings!!! That's my two pence… Arial 😀

I'm excited to announce that TODAY IS THE DAY! PNR Radio – The ParaNormal Report – is officially launched! Wooo hooo! We have tons of giveaways, so be sure to go to iTunes to subscribe!

What is PNR Radio?

I've partnered with ILoveVampireNovels.com to create a paranormal podcast that features authors and celebrities in the paranormal genre with related giveaways. This is not about ghost hunting or demon possession cases or UFO sightings. We exclusively feature books, movies and TV shows of the paranormal genre. So far, we've had the following amazing people on our show:

Like this:

Welcome Lisa Kessler!

Author – Lisa Kessler

I'm so very proud to have Lisa Kessler as a guest today, featuring her new release Moonlight. Who can resist shapeshifters? I know I can't! And this one features not only wolves, but jaguars! RAWR! Be sure to scroll down and view her awesome cover, blurb and buy link information. AND enter the Rafflecopter drawing for a $25 Amazon Gift Card! So, Lisa…

Lisa Kessler: The first chapter of Moonlightwas actually a short story I wrote while I was taking up Ray Bradbury’s challenge to write a new short story each week for a year. That particular week was a full moon and I thought it would be too easy to write about a werewolf. From there my little writer brain kicked in and Lana came into my head—a woman with no clue that every time the moon vanishes from the sky during the New Moon, she shifts into a huge black jaguar. There’s much more to the book, but that was the beginning! LOL After I posted the short story, I couldn't stop wondering what would happen next, so six months later, the first draft of the novel was finished… 🙂

AB: I love the way that works and I can already see some of that happening with my own short stories. I can’t thank you enough for introducing me to the Ray Bradbury Challenge. So exciting! Incidentally, folks, Lisa compiled a bunch of her short stories from that challenge and it’s available on Amazon—Forgotten Treasures: 25 Short Fiction Tales.

So, what prompted you to write the novel in first-person alternating point of view? (For those not familiar with this POV, the story is told in first person, as if the characters are talking to the reader – “I looked up and saw him enter the room.” However, the POV changes each chapter. In Moonlight, it's Lana one chapter and then Adam the next.) LK: This book is very action-packed and gritty like urban fantasy, so the first person POV really enhanced the story telling. At one point, I did rewrite the first 4 chapters into third person and it really sucked the life out of the book, so even though it made it a little more out-of-the-box for paranormal romance, I ended up keeping it in alternating first person. I’m so glad I did. Readers have really connected with the Pack so far!

AB: I so glad to hear that! And I love it that you’re so in touch with your readers. As I understand it, this novel was an RT Book Reviews Magazine Writing with the Stars Finalist. First off, congratulations!! Second, would you mind sharing a little of that experience and how you think it affected the current success of your book?

LK: It was nerve-wracking and very exciting! It was also a super opportunity to get my name and my work in front of a large audience of readers. Also, by having readers vote, they were buy nolvadex 20mg invested in the book, so I think it has helped sales now that it’s out.

AB: Between Adam and Lana, who would you say was the most difficult character to write and why?

LK: Hmmm… This book was a blast to write, so neither character was really “difficult”. I guess since Lana came to me first, maybe that made Adam a little tougher?

AB: Understood! And no worries. So, your heroine and hero are both shapeshifters, but Lana is a jaguar and Adam is a wolf. PLEASE forgive me, but I can't help thinking of that line from Ghostbusters: “Dogs and cats, living together! Mass hysteria!!” LOL! What was your motivation for choosing such different animal forms for your main characters?

LK: Ha! Yeah, the thought crossed my mind… 🙂 I also have them shift on opposite schedules, so the jaguars shift with no moon, and it made sense to me because cats can see well in darkness. It also worked to my favor with the cats being independent and better suited to be lone assassins, whereas the wolves work together as a Pack. I did play a little bit with the concept of dogs and cats not getting along, too.

AB: Thanks for being a good sport about that. I love the way you played with the moon cycle and the strengths of the species!! Well done! Lisa, thank you soooo much for taking the time to come by and visit my website today.

LK: Thanks for having me on your blog Arial!!!

AB: Do you have any parting comments for our visitors?

LK: I’d like to thank everyone who entered the blog tour contest and helped to spread the word on Twitter and Facebook about Moonlight! Also, Hunter’s Moon (Book 2) will be out October 21st, so it’s not long to wait to find out what happens next… Woot! Be sure to pick up a copy of Moonlight(see other links below).

Moonlight Blurb:

Rancher Adam Sloan is more than meets the eye. As the heir to his Pack, the sexy werewolf's biggest challenge is keeping his kin's true nature under wraps. But a group of jaguar shifters threatens to reveal the pack, blasting into town killing humans in plain sight. And when he smells one at the local diner, his standing orders are to take her out. Lana Turpin doesn't realize she's a moving target. Raised in the foster system, she only knows that she blacks out during the new moon and wakes up without remembering a thing. But now she's being tracked by some strange organization that wants her back–even though she's never stepped foot inside their compound. And the stranger across the diner is watching her like an enemy. It should be a simple mission for Adam, but when he touches the frustratingly beautiful Lana, his inner wolf howls…mate. Now, the two must find and stop the people who hunt her…and Adam must keep his own family from killing the only woman he will ever love. Website: http://www.authorlisakessler.com/ Buy Links: Amazon | B&N | ARe | iTunes

The Nelson Literary Agency posted some advice/information in their newsletter about the difference between a “good” manuscript and a “salable” manuscript. You can write a great story, good grammar, character development is tight and storyline is solid. But if the editors don't want it, they won't buy it. I quote the following, but I'm going to put my own adaptation in brackets because I've been told the same thing about my manuscripts (both vampire and steampunk/dystopian):

“For example, dystopian [vampire] stories are hot right now in the young-adult [adult/erotic] genre. As a result, for the past twelve months, editors have been inundated by dystopian [vampire] projects. They are tired of them, even though these titles are still releasing and some are doing quite well. Readers are still enjoying dystopian [vampire] novels, but editors don't want to buy them anymore. So right now, no matter how well written your dystopian YA [vampire novel] might be or how cool the premise, if an agent is taking a look at it, she is probably thinking she can't sell it and will pass on offering representation. That's the bald truth. The timing just plain sucks, and as an agent, selling projects is all about perfect timing: landing the right project, on the right editor's desk, at exactly the right moment.” (my emphasis on the underline)

More than anything else, I think this is a prime example and reason as to why self-publishing is so successful. Yes, you get the crap out there…I totally understand that. But the Big Six (as the big publishers are known as) publish crap, too.

What frustrates me the most is the editors KNOW there is an audience for these books – such as in the aforementioned Dystopian YA and my genre of topic, vampires – and yet because they're tired of reading them, they don't want to see them anymore. This is a business, people! Not your time to have a leisurely read! Print what the readers want!

One agent told me the reason why editors won't even look at such manuscripts (e.g., vampire, dystopian, steampunk, etc.) is because they're tired of getting a bunch of crap manuscript with the same stories. My response – and I can say this because I'm an editor – OMG get over it! That's your job as an editor. READING MANUSCRIPTS. If you don't like reading crap manuscripts, get another freakin' job. The sad truth is there is a TON of crap out there; it comes with the territory.

I belong to a group called I Love Vampire Novels and they have been my biggest supporters of my self-published novels – my Bonded By Blood Vampire Chronicles. Their FB page boasts over 100,000 LIKES. And I'm sure there are a lot more vampire lovers out there than just 100,000. This group and others like them, J.R. Ward, Charlaine Harris, Laurell K. Hamilton and Sherrilyn Kenyon are all proof people love vampire stories and they sell well.

But the editors are tired of them. :\

No problem! We'll just self-publish and make 70% off our book sales and the Big Six can continue whining about how their industry is failing. Enjoy the trip down!

Thanks for letting me vent! If you made it this far, thanks for putting up with me! Do you feel just as passionate about this topic? Does it really matter to you? Do you have your own experience about the industry you'd like to share? How about from a reader's perspective? Am I completely whacked in my reasoning?

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